Reason to Be Cheerful

When I was an undergraduate, I read a book called Clarity Is Not Enough. It challenged the prevailing linguistic philosophy which said less and less with more and more precision. Yes, we have to think and speak accurately, otherwise we go round in circles, but philosophy must be about something – life, meaning, ethics, truth. Clarity does not, of course, guarantee significance. Reducing all statements to “x = x” may be satisfying, but it cannot tell you what to believe or how to behave.